Tempestuous times fail to knock Saatchi from top agency position

Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, which lost a string of key accounts as well as its two founders this year, has maintained its position as the UK’s number-one advertising agency, according to Register-MEAL.

Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, which lost a string of key accounts as well as its two founders this year, has maintained its position as the UK’s number-one advertising agency, according to Register-MEAL.

Register-MEAL figures show Saatchi has also managed to increase billings by five per cent to 308.56m over the year from October 1994 to September 1995.

BT Global, Gallaher, British Airways, Dixons, Mars and Mirror Group all left Saatchi, walking off with an estimated 149m in billings.

Tamara Ingram, Saatchi’s joint managing director, says the agency has benefited from a year’s contribution from Camelot, the National Lottery organiser, and developed business from existing clients.

Lowe Howard-Spink, which has also failed to win any significant business over the period, managed to increase spend by more than 28 per cent to 184.64m.

Like Saatchi, it has gained increased spend from existing clients, which include Tesco, Littlewood’s Pools and Vauxhall.

Collett Dickenson Pearce recorded the biggest fall in billings, down 26 per cent to 52.67m.

CDP finance director Jamie Hewitt says: “By next August, we will be up to 72m in billings.”

And chief executive Ben Langdon adds: “It is about time people stopped looking at Register-MEAL figures and started using income and profitability – our income has jumped 2.3m this year and profits will be in excess of 600,000.”